Ananova:

The first baby panda to be born in Europe in a quarter of a century has made his first public appearance.

Vienna Zoo's panda baby, Fu Long, has until now spent all his time with his over protective mother Yang Yang.

He was conceived naturally by two panda bears loaned to the Vienna Schoenbrunn Palace Zoo in 2003.

But even though he was born last August, he has until now been too scared to go into the public viewing area where every day thousands of visitors brave the cold in the hope of the first glimpse of the baby bear.

After a few minutes of investigating the enclosure, Fu Long's mother Yang Yang softly nudged him back to the safety of her lair.

The zoo hopes that Fu Long will however make more excursions over the coming days now he has taken the first step.

Panda bears face extinction with only a thousand living in the wild and 140 in captivity worldwide. The birth of the new baby panda in Vienna is being hailed by keepers as a minor miracle.

The previous panda born in Europe was in Madrid, more than 25 years ago, and that was conceived through artificial insemination.